South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore outgained the entire UF offense when the teams played in 2010.

GAINESVILLE — Florida’s football team didn’t catch many breaks last season. However, one of them was not having to play South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore.

Lattimore, then a sophomore, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the seventh game of the season. The Gators couldn’t take advantage of the break anyway, losing at South Carolina 17-12 on their way to a 7-6 season.

Still, UF knows full well what Lattimore is capable of doing to the Gators. In South Carolina’s 36-14 rout of Florida in 2010, Lattimore outperformed UF by himself. Literally.

Lattimore gained 243 total yards and scored three touchdowns that night at Florida Field. The Gators finished the game with 226 total yards and two touchdowns.

The third-ranked Gators (6-0, 5-0) will have to do a better job of slowing Lattimore down when No. 9 South Carolina (6-1, 4-1) visits Gainesville at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in a pivotal Southeastern Conference game. The contest features two prime national title contenders, with UF ranked second in the BCS and the Gamecocks seventh.

“Marcus Lattimore is a phenomenal football player,” Florida coach Will Muschamp said. “He’s gotten his strength back, and he’s a one-cut runner. He gets the ball north and south and really moves the pile for them. He’s an outstanding runner.”

Florida defenders around in 2010 know how talented Lattimore is as a runner. He carried the ball 40 times for 212 yards and ran for three scores in the victory and caught two passes for 31 yards. The 40 carries remain a school record.

“He’s a very tough, physical runner,” Florida senior defensive tackle Omar Hunter said. “He likes to run between the tackles. He has a lot of speed, and it’s deceptive speed. You don’t think he’s that fast until you’re on the field with him. But he runs very hard and very physical.”

The 6-foot, 218-pound Lattimore has scored 37 touchdowns in 27 career games and has found the end zone in every game this season for the Gamecocks. This season, Lattimore has run for 584 yards and 10 touchdowns and gained 156 yards on receptions.

“He’s one of the backs that can pretty much do it all,” Florida senior linebacker Jon Bostic said. “He can do some different things. He’s hard to really stop, because he’s a good single-back guy. He can run it from the I-formation. He can line up in the gun and do some zone-read stuff from there. It’s kind of hard to defend, because you never know exactly what they’re going to come out in.”

The Gators have been stout against the run this season. Florida ranks third in the SEC in run defense (107.5 yards per game) behind Alabama and LSU. No running back has gained 90 or more yards against the Gators this season. However, UF has yet to face a challenge like the one Lattimore represents.

“You see no issues from what he had with his injury last year,” Muschamp said. “He’s a guy that’s running extremely well, in my opinion.”